[Implemented] Rules update coming, to be effective for Turn 5

[Dave Baughman]

It was posted somewhere that newly hired merc's will start at Outreach? Might I put the caveat in that they have to travel to the territory of the hiring state before commencing combat operations.

Otherwise ya know. ;-) Easy bake invasion of the FWL, CC, and to an extent the Lyrans.

That's logical. The final rule will say something to that effect.

[Dave Baughman]

"Upside-down" Interdiction table

For a long time, the Interdiction table has caused some confusion because unlike all of the other tables, low rolls have the most beneficial results. This essentialy short-circuits critical hit allocation and requires some unusual modifiers. Effective turn 5, the table will be replaced.



Revised Interdiction/Guerilla Warfare Table

Replace the existing Interdiction and Guerilla Warfare tables with the following:


Interdiction/Guerilla Warfare

2d6 roll	Damage Percentage
2 or less	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 10%
3	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 5%
4	5%
5	5%
6	10%
7	15%
8	20%C
9	30%C
10	40%CD
11	60%CD
12+	80%CR

EC – Defender has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
C – Attacker has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
CD – As C, plus the defending force is disrupted and may not be issue orders for one operational round.*
CR – As C, plus the defender is routed and must use Withdrawal orders in the next operational round.*

*Additional effects do not apply if the attacker is destroyed during the course of the battle (though
critical events should still be rolled for).



Related Rules Changes

Update the text of the Break Interdiction order as indicated in red

Break Interdiction
Type: Battle
Requirement: Non-aerospace units attempting to execute a movement order
Effect: If a force has no remaining aerospace or naval units and thus cannot use Naval Engagement to contest interdiction, it may continue attempting to break through the interdiction by using its transports to attack. When this is done, the attacker rolls on the Interdiction chart with a -2 modifier for damage dealt to the enemy. The interdicting force also rolls on the Interdiction chart, with a +2 modifier to determine its damage dealt.


Guerilla Warfare
Type: Special Scenario
Requirement: Ground forces that have survived at least one round of combat since the start of combat operations and which have been reduced to 10.00 FP or less*.
*If a Castle Brian or similar fortification is present, this scenario works differently; see below.

Effect: Forces designated as Guerillas immediately take 1d6 FP of damage reflecting abandonment of equipment. Once active, Guerilla status may be maintained indefinitely. Guerilla units may not be the target of any combat order.
Once per turn, hostile forces garrisoning the same planet may attempt to pin down the Guerillas. On a roll of 10+ on 2d6, the Guerilla status is cancelled. On a roll of 2-9, the Guerilla force rolls on the Interdiction/Guerilla warfare table and sustains the indicated percentage of losses.

Castles Brian and other super-fortifications
Game mechanically, units protected by a Castle Brian functions as if they were using Guerilla Warfare, except the 10 FP maximum force size limit does not apply and units entering the Castle do not take damage from equipment abandonment. Each round, the enemy may attempt to penetrate the defenses (using ground FP only) on a 10+ on 2d6; otherwise, the attackers are repelled by the static defenses and the defenders take damage based on a single roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart; unlike normal guerilla warfare, these static defenses also damage the attacker; regardless of whether or not they penetrate the defenses, the attacker takes damage according to a roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart.

[Dave Baughman]

For potential implementation in Turn 6.


Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons of Mass Destruction are a category of weapons that includes nuclear, chemical, biological, and orbital weapons. Sometimes euphemistically referred to as strategic weapons, limited WMD use can dramatically alter the outcome of even a large battle; however, WMD can also cause serious economic and ecological disruption, making their use controversial.

WMD are represented in the game by 'tokens' which can be used to add special scenarios to combat orders (to to apply certain effects outside of normal combat). The token types are:

☢ - Nuclear Weapon (formerly *)
☠ - Chemical Weapon (formerly #)
☣ - Biological Weapon (formerly ß)
◆ - Orbital Strike
◇ - Orbital Strike (limited)
⊽ - Unknown

Accounting for Tokens

Tokens are normally attached to military units, and are listed in the unit's name.

For example: 12th Striker Cluster ☢☢☢

Because an attached token is part of a unit's name, its presence is disclosed whenever that unit's name is disclosed. Tokens do not change the FP value of a unit and do not impact the unit's movement provile.

Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, and ⊽ tokens may also be stockpiled. Stockpiles are transported units listed on the ground forces tab. Stockpiles cannot initiate combat and will surrender if no other friendly forces are in the hex. For the purposes of calculating movement costs, each token is worth 5 FP. Stockpiles are detected normally by intelligence and reconnaisance orders that reveal ground units.

Obtaining Tokens

Some tokens are manufacutered by various hex improvements:

• Nuclear Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: 25 RP each
• Chemical Tokens: manufactured at MF. Cost: 5 RP each
• Biological Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: variable, see biowarfare R&D path

Orbital strike tokens are generated by certain types of naval units:

• A WarShip with FP value of 0.25-4.75 has one ◇ token. This token, if used, is replaced at the end of the turn.
• A WarShip with an FP value of 5.00 or more has one ◆ token, plus one additional ◆ for every further 10.00 FP (15, 25, 35, etc). These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the operational round.
• For every 5.0 FP (or fraction thereof) of capital- or subcapital-armed DropShips, a naval unit has one ◇ token. These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the turn.

It is currently unknown how to obtain ⊽ tokens.


Special Scenarios Table
The table below describes the special scenarios that can be added by spending tokens:

Special Scenario	☢	☠	☣	◆	◇	⊽
Inflict 1d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled*	x	x	-	x	x	?
Inflict 2d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled**	x	-	-	x	x	?
Force a WarShip to make a survival roll (ship is always destroyed if roll fails)	x	-	-	-	-	?
Destroy a Space Station	x	-	-	x	-	?
Use one nuclear weapon in MegaMek	x	-	-	-	-	?
Execute a "Sabotage Hex Element" order	x	x	-	x	x	?
Execute a "Terrorism" order***	x	x	-	x	x	?
Damage planetary biosphere (on a "12" on 2d6, downgrade the planet by one level of development)	x	x	-	x	-	?
Add a +1 on simple resolution for marine boarding operations	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Attack Special Forces Team" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Assassination" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Infect the hex with a biological weapon	-	-	x	-	-	?
??	-	-	-	-	-	?

*On a roll of "1" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
**On a roll of "2" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
***Note that this represents deliberately targeting the civilian population of the hex. Multiple successes in the same turn extend the terror period to 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 turns respectively (maximum 10 turns).

Orders Cleanup

These rules render the Tactical Orbital Bombardment and General Orbital Bombardment orders obsolete. Those orders are abolished.

The Scatter order may be used against any damage-inflicting token-based special scenario which targets a ground unit.

The Horrors of War

Large-scale combat, especially in conjunction with WMD use, has a serious disruptive effect on nearby economies. Part of this is due to an outpouring of refugees fleeing the warzone, part is due to disruption of trade routes, and part of it is due to the diversion of civil resources to recovery and damage-mitigation efforts.

Any time more any WMD tokens are used or when more than a total of 25 FP of damage is inflicted in a single operational round, roll on the Horrors of War table at the end of the turn.

Modifiers:

• +1 for every 50 FP of total damage inflicted over the course of the turn
• +1 for every token used
• +1 for every token used against a ground target (cumulative)
• +5 if a terrorism order was used that turn

2d6 Roll	Result
2-9	No Effect
10-14	Hex is terrorized for 3 turns*
15	As 10-14 plus one adjacent hex is terrorized for 3 turns**
16	As 10-14 plus two adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
17	As 10-14 plus three adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
18	As 10-14 plus four adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
19	As 10-14 plus five adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
20	As 10-14 plus all adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
21-25	As 20, plus roll a sabotage hex element against each hex improvement in the battle location's hex. If a space station is present in the hex, it is destroyed.
26+	As 21-25, plus check for biosphere damage. Add a bonus to the roll equal to the amount by which the Horrors of War roll exceeded 26. For example: on a roll of 30, add a +4 modifier to the roll.

*If already terrorized by separate action, extend the terror duration per the rules for multple token-based terrorism orders as described above.
**Determine which adjacent hex randomly.

[Dave Baughman]

Naval Survival Clarification

Under the rules for Naval Recovery and Scuttling (which need to be renamed since its misleading), replace all references to "WarShips" with "JumpShips or WarShips."

Add the following text to the Naval Survival portion:

The Honors of War

During the Succession Wars of the 30th and 31st century, it was customary to not attack JumpShips; similarly, the Clans have historically regarded attacking unarmed transport JumpShips as wasteful and have avoided it when possible.

JumpShips that do not contribute their FP to a battle (note that most JumpShips have either no FP or only a very small amount) are exempt from survival rolls unless the opposite faction specifically notes (during the Special Scenario step) that their forces are attempting to destroy the enemy JumpShips.

There are no game mechanical consequences for attacking JumpShips, though players are free to impose restrictions or penalties on this type of conduct through in-game roleplaying means.

[Dave Baughman]

As you probably know, I've been dissatisfied with the statistical distribution of the critical events chart*. I'm also not a huge fan of how it makes it very easy to drop an opponent's damage to zero through multiple relatively easy to roll 'valor' crits. A while back I tried to address this with the Flashpoint critical chart, and I've adapted that for FGC use. Please see below and vote for whether or not to implement this as part of the Turn 5 rules patch. If you vote "no," please respond and let me know what you felt was problematic.

2d6	Critical Event	Alternate Naval Result
2	Enemy unit disintegrates, taking double damage. If it survives, it receives a -1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
3	Enemy suffers major damage and loses one quality level.
4	Enemy force is encircled; 1d4x5% of the force is captured (see rules for surrender)	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
5	Capture a high-value prisoner – automatically win operational initiative for the next Operational Round.
6	Command & Control breakdown: enemy suffers -1 on operational initiative for the rest of the Strategic Turn.
7	Repair bay heroics double the amount of after-action battlefield repair.
8	Your commander gains experience - +1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
9	Enemy supply columns are overrun and looted – the enemy's damage control for this round goes to your force instead.
10	One enemy VIP of the enemy player's choice is killed (1-4) or captured (5-6). If no VIPs are present, the enemy's highest-ranking officer is affected instead. The enemy suffers a -1 penalty on all operational initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn.
11	Lucky shots result in far more salvage than usual – double this battle's contribution to the salvage pool.	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
12	A Hero is Born – your commanding officer leads his or her forces to a decisive victory against all odds; increase damage inflicted by 30%. If you took enough damage this turn to be destroyed, 10% of your force survives. The enemy must withdraw as if they lost an Invasion scenario.

*To clarify what I mean here, I don't like how in the current chart, some of the statistically harder to get crits have less of an impact in the game than the easier to roll ones. For example, a roll of "3" (1/18 chance) reduces damage by 15%, while a roll of 7 (1/6 chance) does the same thing and also does +20% damage to the enemy.

[Dave Baughman]

Since these are written up, and no one seems to have any complaints, anyone have issues with me rolling this into the Turn 5 patch?

[Cannonshop]

Um...how do we get the cute little icons to show up on the sheet?

[Cannonshop]

Mostly, I like this. The huge impacts sit pretty far out on the curve, and damage reductions are limited.  Got a question though: what's the mechanical outcome of losing a commander in roll 10-that seems more like an RP function?

[Dave Baughman]

Um...how do we get the cute little icons to show up on the sheet?

Copypasta? If they don't show up in Excel, switch the font to Arial Unicode MS or any other Unicode font and they should be fine.

[Dave Baughman]

Mostly, I like this. The huge impacts sit pretty far out on the curve, and damage reductions are limited.  Got a question though: what's the mechanical outcome of losing a commander in roll 10-that seems more like an RP function?

Good catch. It should work like it currently does (-1 on initiative and simple res for the rest of the turn). I will update the chart.

[Deathrider6]

I like the new chart. Not only does it open up more reason to write RP for combat (always a bonus in my opinion), it also leaves the possibility for a small unit to win a legendary victory. Just my two cents here.

[Parmenion]

Is there anywhere taken into account an employer who has upgraded a merc unit either through better eqpt, increasing the size of the merc unit or paying for increasing experience?

Mercenary Rules

Due to lack of interest, the PC mercenaries pilot program is abolished.

The NPC mercenaries text is totally rewritten to read as indicated below:



NPC Mercenaries

Mercenaries are private military contractors that offer their services to factions in exchange for payment.

Hiring Mercenaries

When a mercenary unit is out of contract, either due to expiration or due to a contract breach by the client, the MRBC will open bidding for that unit's services. Any faction may bid for mercenary contracts. Whichever faction makes the highest bid wins the contract. Contract points are awarded as follows:

+1 per 5% of the unit's FP that will be paid every month (minimum 5%)
+1 if the bidder guarantees full repairs
-1 if the bidder is to receive all salvage
+0 if salvage is to be split 50/50 between bidder and mercenaries
+1 if the mercenary will receive all salvage
+1 for a 3-turn contract
+0 for a 6-turn contract
-1 for a 9-turn contract
-1 for no signing bonus
+0 for 10% signing bonus
+1 for 25% signing bonus
+1 for a front-loaded contract (50% of the contract pay advanced in first turn of the contract)
-1 if the bidder's house troops fought against the unit in the last three turns
+1 if the bidder is the unit's historical sole client*
-1 if the bidder is a member of the Clan Grand Council
+1 renewing a prior contract on same or better terms**

*based on canon employment history up to 3062.
**only if the underlying contract was awarded under the current version of the rules.

Accounting for Mercenaries

Mercenaries are listed as normal units on the appropriate tab of the client's record sheet. However, they must also be listed in the mercenaries section of the expenses tab, including their per-turn salary and (in the notes column) the terms of their contract.

When a mercenary unit's contract expires, it is the responsibility of the client to post the unit for rebid in the MRBC thread. Failure to do this will result in loss of the +1 contract renewal bonus and in repeat cases will result in the MRBC applying a blanket penalty to future contract bids.

[Dave Baughman]

Shoot me a PM with the details and we can discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

Is there anywhere taken into account an employer who has upgraded a merc unit either through better eqpt, increasing the size of the merc unit or paying for increasing experience?

Mercenary Rules

Due to lack of interest, the PC mercenaries pilot program is abolished.

The NPC mercenaries text is totally rewritten to read as indicated below:



NPC Mercenaries

Mercenaries are private military contractors that offer their services to factions in exchange for payment.

Hiring Mercenaries

When a mercenary unit is out of contract, either due to expiration or due to a contract breach by the client, the MRBC will open bidding for that unit's services. Any faction may bid for mercenary contracts. Whichever faction makes the highest bid wins the contract. Contract points are awarded as follows:

+1 per 5% of the unit's FP that will be paid every month (minimum 5%)
+1 if the bidder guarantees full repairs
-1 if the bidder is to receive all salvage
+0 if salvage is to be split 50/50 between bidder and mercenaries
+1 if the mercenary will receive all salvage
+1 for a 3-turn contract
+0 for a 6-turn contract
-1 for a 9-turn contract
-1 for no signing bonus
+0 for 10% signing bonus
+1 for 25% signing bonus
+1 for a front-loaded contract (50% of the contract pay advanced in first turn of the contract)
-1 if the bidder's house troops fought against the unit in the last three turns
+1 if the bidder is the unit's historical sole client*
-1 if the bidder is a member of the Clan Grand Council
+1 renewing a prior contract on same or better terms**

*based on canon employment history up to 3062.
**only if the underlying contract was awarded under the current version of the rules.

Accounting for Mercenaries

Mercenaries are listed as normal units on the appropriate tab of the client's record sheet. However, they must also be listed in the mercenaries section of the expenses tab, including their per-turn salary and (in the notes column) the terms of their contract.

When a mercenary unit's contract expires, it is the responsibility of the client to post the unit for rebid in the MRBC thread. Failure to do this will result in loss of the +1 contract renewal bonus and in repeat cases will result in the MRBC applying a blanket penalty to future contract bids.

[chaosxtreme]

I thought you couldn't increase a merc unit?

[Parmenion]

Clarification of Critical Events 4 & 5

On both tables, the language of critical events 4 and 5 is ammended as follows:

4 Gain +1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO gains experience).
5 Opponent receives -1 on initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn (CO killed).

In light of Fronc, I have a comment in regards critical event 5.

At Fronc, the Magistracy naval commander was killed by the critical event roll.  No problem with that, however why would the -1 carry over to ground combat?  Two separate combat theatres, and quite frankly, if an Air Force commander got killed, the reaction of the ground troops would be a universal 'meh'.  One less Air Force tosser sinking piss in a five star hotel.  

I think either there has to be recognition that space/naval combat combat is separate from ground combat in this instance and the -1 doesn't carry over into any ground combat phase, or the wording needs to be amended.